Railway sleeper



Oct. 6, 1936. J. J. REY

RAILWAY SLEEPER Filed Feb. 25, 1935 3 Sheets- Sheet 2 INVENTOR. -/a/7 /v J Pix M EYS- ATT Oct 6, 1936. J. J. REY

RAILWAY SLEEPER Filed Feb. 25, 1955 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 I 5E 12 M IN VEN TOR. \/0/1/y J P6) ATT EYS.

Patented Oct. 6, 1936 STATES PATENT OFFICE RA'I'ILWAY SLEEPER. JohnIIQRey, Portland, 'Oreg. Application February 25,1935, Serial No. 8,069

2Claims. (01138 116) My invention relates to railroad traoksleepers and has for its primary purpose the provision of an improved type'of sleeper'upon which rails may be supported and to which they may be clamped.

In general my invention comprises spaced pairs of sleepers provided with clamping-means for anchoring the railroad rails thereto and provided with tie rods connecting complementary units of sleepers to maintain them and the rails in propll) 'e'rly spaced relation.

f preferably fabricate my improved sleepers of concrete, with adequate steel reinforcement members disposed therein. A metallic wear plate is disposed upon the top surface of the reinforce- 1T5 ment members. Coacting pairs of clamping memwood.

A still further object of my invention is to provide means inconn'ection with railroad sleepers whereby the railroad rails may be adequately and substantially anchored thereto.

A still furtherobje'ct'of my invention is to provide means in connection with railroad sleepers whereby the gauge of the rails may be readily and accurately maintained. a

A still further 'o'bjec'tof my invention is to provide means whereby tampering with the anchorage of railroad rails may be made more difficult.

A still further object of my invention is to provide means whereby railroad rails may be adequately supported upon railroad sleepers and yet 40 be provided with supporting means of material resilience to act as silencing medium, and/or to provide for electrical insulation of the rails.

With these and incidental objects in view, the invention consists in certain novel features of 45 construction and combination of parts, the essen tial elements of which'are set forth in the appended claims, and a preferred form of embodiment of which is hereinafter shown with reference to the drawings which accompany and form 50 a part of this specification.

In the drawings: Fig. l is a plan View of a portion of railway trackage embodying my new device.

Fig. 2 is an end elevation in section of the con- 55 struction disclosed in Fig. 1, taken on line 22 of Fig. 1 and looking in'the direction indicated.

Fig.3 is a side elevation of the construction disclosed in Fig. 1.

Fig; 4 is 'a' perspective view of the wear plate of my sleeper.

Fig.5 is a detailed cross sectional view of one of my improved sleeper units, taken on line-5'5 of Fig. l and in the direction indicated.

Fig. *6 is a perspective view of my clamp member.

Fig. 7 is a side view of my clamp member.

Like reference characters refer to like parts throughout the several views.

I-provide spaced pairs of concrete sleeper memhers I, la; lb, lc; Id, 'le; etc. These members are provided with earth bearing surfaces 2 which are laid in contact with suitable grade 3. Appropriate ballast 4 is distributed about the concrete sleeper members and serves to retain them in position. A metallic face plate 5 is horizontally disposed upon the top surface of each 'of the concrete sleeper members and is provided with downwardly dependingends 5a and 5b. The metallic face plates may be provided with a plurality of downwardly projecting lugs 6 to facilitate the anchorage of the metallic face plate to the concrete sleeper member. Oblique bearing surfaces 'lproject inwardly from the oppositely disposed 'ends of the metallic face plate 5. A

plurality of perforations 8 may be formed through downwardly depending ends 5a and 5b of the face plate 5 and are adapted to receive therethrough a tie rod 12 which is threaded at each of its oppositely disposed ends l3 and M. The tie rod I2 is preferably made with its ends upset to receive the threads l3 and M.

A clearance channel I5 is provided through each of the concrete sleeper members for the passage therethrough of tie rod l2. A pair of adjusting nuts I6 is disposed at each end of the tie 5 rods I2. Lock washers l8 may be provided adjacent the bearing surfaces of the adjusting nuts and cotter pins l 9 may be provided at the extreme ends of tie rod l2. Recesses 20 and 2| may be provided in the concrete sleeper member to facilitate manipulation of adjusting nuts l6. Each of the concrete sleeper members is provided with a pair of rail receiving members 22 and 23. Each of these rail receiving members is provided with a pair of downwardly depending extensions 24 and 25, having between them a clearance space 26 adapted to straddle the tie rod l2. Each of the extensions 24 and 25 terminates in a foot 21 having an oblique upper surface 28. The angle of obliquity of the surface 28 is substantially equal to the angle of obliquity of oblique bearing surfaces I with which they are complementary, and with which they coact in locating the rail as hereinafter described. The rail receiving members 22 and 23 are each provided With a rail bearing extension 29 adapted to receive and support the underside of flange 30 of railroad rail 3|.

A jaw member 32 overhangs the extension 29 and is adapted to engage with the oblique upper 7 surface of the rail flange 30. A sheet 33 of suitable insulating material, as rubber or paper, may be disposed about the rail flange 30 whereby the rail may be insulated from the rail receiving mem bers, thus obviating the possibilities of grounding or short-circuiting the signal or power currents flowing through the rails. The sheet 33 may be of resilient material to provide a cushioned support for the rail.

In preparing a railroad bed using my new and improved sleeper the grade 3 is established and the pairs of concrete sleeper members are aligned thereupon. The tie rods l2 are inserted through the apertures H and clearance channels l5. Rail receiving members 22 and 23 are then placed upon the metallic face plate 5, the clearance space 26 in each straddling the tie rod l2. The rail 3! having insulating means 33 disposed about the flange 30 thereof is placed upon the rail bearing extensions 29. Adjusting nuts I6 are then drawn up against lock washer 18 causing the mutual approach of the rail receiving members 22 and 23 and the engagement of oblique surfaces 28 with oblique bearing surface 1 and at the same time the tightening of rail flange 30 within the jaw members 32. Proper manipulation of the adjusting nuts I6 and I1 adjusts the gauge of the pair of rails to the required spacing after which the ad justing nuts are tightened and suitable ballast 4 may then be distributed to retain the concrete sleeper members in position.

Vhere conditions are such as to warrant, the tie rod l2 may be omitted from certain of the pairs of concrete sleeper blocks, the rail receiving members 22 and 23 being'retained in position by suitable individual bolts passing therethrough in lieu of the threaded ends of the tie rod.

While I have shown a particular embodiment of my invention I am aware that many minor changes therein will readily suggest themselves to others skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to protect by Letters Patent is:

I claim:

1. In a device of the class described, the combination of a pair of like pro-formed sleeper members, a metallic face plate for each sleeper member, pairs of downwardly extending lugs spaced apart and extending longitudinally of the face plates, legs disposed at each side of the face plate, oblique bearing surfaces formed integral with each of the legs and inwardly extending relative to each of the legs, a plurality of holes disposed in each of the legs and the holes disposed in one of the legs being in registry with the holes disposed in the other of the legs, a pair of rail receiving :members disposed upon the face plate and having downwardly extending legs that intimately engage the outer surface of the face plate legs, threaded tie rods placeable through the face plate legs and the rail receiving member legs, nuts coacting with the threaded tie rods and adapted to lock the face plates and the rail receiving members in fixed relation to each other and in track aligning spaced relation, means for looking the face plates relative to the pre-formed sleepers, jaw members formed integral with each of the rail receiving members and the jaws being so formed as to receive one side of the base of the rail therein.

2. In a mechanism of the class described, the

combination with a pair of parallelly disposed rails; of a plurality of pairs of reinforced concrete sleepers spaced apart and in alignment longitudinally and transversely of the rails, a transverse channel disposed through the top of each sleeper; a face plate disposed upon the top surface of each sleeper, locking lugs downwardly extending from the face of the face plate, leg members downwardly extending from the sides of the face plate, locking legs obliquely inwardly extending from the terminal edges of the leg members; clamping members adapted to engage the flanges of the rail base, leg members downwardly extending from the clamping members, a

locking lug disposed at the terminus of each leg member that is adapted to intimately engage the oblique surface of the face plate leg member locking lug; a tie rod threaded at both ends and disposed through the transverse channel of each pair of transversely aligned sleepers and through,

clamping member and face plate legs; and threaded locking means adapted to engage the threaded ends of the tie rods whereby the sleepers and the rails may be locked in spaced relation.

JOHN J. REY. 

